Art from 1980 thru 1990:

Kaz Maslanka's interests in the 1980s began
to move from using art to transform aural experiences into a visual
language to transforming a visual experience into a mathematical
language. Maslanka has placed his thoughts on visual perception
directly inside Newtonian kinematics to create metaphors that
point where space, time and perception meet. He was curious of
the psychophysical implications of his work but was more interested
and motivated by the aesthetic process. Kaz's main focus was blending
the aesthetics of Math and Physics with that of conceptual Art.
He has also used similar principles to create. Mathematical
Poetry

Visual Kinematics and Psychovectors is a series
of conceptual art works concerning itself with recontextualizing
verbal thoughts on the mechanics of visual perception into a physics
paradigm.

This document is a primer to understanding
visual kinematics and the psychovector series, which are eight
conceptual-like art pieces. (1981 through 1988) The document is
intended for people with basic math, physics, and art backgrounds.
.....................................................................................................

PSYCHO-VECTOR SERIESWe can ask the questions: Why is it
that we can perceive visual movement in a static piece of artwork?
And why is it that some images are perceived to imply movement
of greater velocity than others?

If we sweep our hand through the water in a
swimming pool Figure 1
. and have the hand positioned so that the greatest
area of our hand (the palm) is facing parallel to the direction
of movement we feel resistance through the water. This resistance
is less than the resistance we experience when having the greatest
area of our hand facing normal or perpendicular to the movement.
Figure 2 . If
the same amount of force is used we notice a greater speed of
water when the palm is parallel to the movement. Seeing this experience
as well as feeling it is an example of how the information from
each of the senses is merged into the meaning of the experience.
Later when we experience information from one sense we can recall
the meaning or can implicitly experience information about the
other senses because of our past experiences with similar situations.

Almost everyone will agree the narrow image
on the left looks faster, but why? Because the slope of the lines
coming from the vertex is
greater on the left image one has the illusion of greater velocity.
The lines rise toward the top of the picture faster than they
run across
toward the side of the picture. If we want to describe this mathematically,
we can create a ratio and count the units the line rises
and divide it by the number of units it runs. Thus: slope=rise/run.
figure 4. The line rises
seven units as it runs one unit. Thus:
rise/run=7/1=7. The slope of figure
5. is one because the line rises one unit as it runs
one unit. We can now describe the visual velocity
mathematically. As we look back at figure
3. we can see the left image has seven times the velocity
as the right image...it looks as though it
is traveling seven times faster.

Let's ask another question...which image is
the more massive?...why?... the image on the right, because it
covers a greater area appears more massive.

In Physics momentum (p) is defined as the mass
multiplied by velocity, or p=mv. Let's imagine we have two marbles
that are made of different materials. One is made of wood and
the other of steel. If we throw these two marbles at someone's
chest with the same velocity (or speed) which will hurt more when
it hits? figure 6. Of
course the one made of steel hurts more. It has more momentum.
The velocity of the marbles is the same but the steel has more
mass thus giving it more momentum (mass times velocity) . Given
the same velocity, more mass means more momentum.

We have described the velocity of the triangular
images as the slope of the lines relative to the base of the picture
and we have determined the mass to be the area . figure
3.Given this we can describe the visual momentum (pv)
as the slope times the area. pv = slope(area)

At the risk of being confusing I would like
to substitute the term slope with a new synonymous trigonometric
term, cotangent of 1/2 the vertex angle (cot (a/2)). figure 7. Also, we will call
the area of a triangle 'K'. Thus K is a variable representing
area or visual mass. Now the equation for visual momentum is pv
= cot(a/2)K

Now we can describe the visual momentum in
both triangular shapes figure
3. as having the same momentum; but the image
on the left has seven times more velocity. It turns out that any
isosceles (triangles with two sides of the same length) images
of the
same height will have the same momentum. That is the mass of one
makes up for the velocity of the other and vice versa.

Physics can define force (F) as the change
in momentum per unit time. What does this mean? Take for example
the egg toss game where a two person team competes with one person
tossing a chicken egg to the other person. Each completion requires
increasing the distance the egg is thrown-stepping backwards one
step. The team who can toss and catch the egg the greatest distance
without it breaking is the winner. In essence the object of the
game is to change the momentum of the egg from maximum (when the
egg is flying in the air) to minimum (when the egg is caught)
over the greatest amount of time. figure
9. This can be done by slowing the egg gradually as
it is caught; as opposed to catching the egg quickly in a short
period of time, applying a greater
force usually breaking the egg. To reiterate: the change of momentum
per time is force... if the egg is slowed quickly over a short
period of
time it creates more force; if the egg is slowed over a long period
of time it creates less force.

Let's talk about visual force. We know howto
define visual momentum so we can talk about the change in momentum
which is initially zero and is finally at maximum. We see this
in the images of figure
3. but we don't know how much time has elapsed. However
we can see a distance of travel implied figure
10. and we know from physics that the distance an
object travels is equal to the velocity it traveled, multiplied
by the duration of time elapsed during its course of travel. d=vt
We know the distance implied figure
10. and we know the velocity. With that in mind we
can solve the equation for
average time. This turns out to be half the base of the triangular
image.figure 10.
This makes sense: velocity =distance divided by time (physics)
and velocity=rise over run (visual kinematics). What we have defined
is the average time (the final time plus the initial time divided
by two) .
What we are seeking is the definition of final time which is equal
to twice the average time or 2t. Using this we can describe visual
force
Fv =(Kcot(a/2))/2t (the change in visual momentum per unit time).
Physics also describes energy as force times distance or E=Fd.
Thus
visual energy is Ev =d(Kcot(a/2))/2t.

So far, we have limited our context to discussing
visual movement in one direction. A triangle actually moves in
three directions. figure 12.Before we talk about pandirectional movement we need
to introduce the concept of vectors. The definition of a vector
is any thing with magnitude and direction. If we throw a baseball
north at 30 miles per hour then it is a vector; 30 miles per hour
is the magnitude and north is the direction. A weight of 230 lb.
can be considered a vector, with the direction being down and
the 230 lb. being the magnitude. So each of the three individual
movements in a triangle can be considered a vector. figure 12. A vector sum is the
addition of the individual components of two or more vectors.
Let's try to illustrate. Consider three people holding ropes tied
to a ring which is positioned between them. figure
13. Each of the people has created a force vector,
that is they each pull with a certain force (magnitude) and a
direction (toward themselves). Let's instruct the two people with
the blue shirts to pull harder than the one with the red.
Which direction will the ring move? It won't move toward either
of the people in blue who are pulling harder, it will move between
the two. It
can be said that the vector sum of the three people pulling on
the rope has a certain magnitude and is in a direction between
the two people
with the blue shirts. We can add the individual vectors together
to see which way the object moves. The final magnitude and direction
of the
object is called the resultant vector ... basically the result.

The next three works in this series involve
momentum and force vector sumations and a visual energy sumation
of an entire field of triangles. Because there are no units for
this type of study, I gave the unit chron for visual time, Kandinskys
for visual force, Apollinaires per meter chron for visual momentum
and Mattas for visual energy. The resultant vectors are noted
under the triangle field in each piece.

PSYCHRONOMETRICSPsychronometrics is a study
of using psychological time as a metaphor for physical
time.

QUANTUM PONDERINGSQuantum Leap
1 (1980- photos and text 24"
x 30" ) takes 2 identical photographs of a parking lot and
labels one of them North and one of them South implying that the
camera is facing that direction when the photo is taken. The text
under the photo states that the photo with the camera facing north
places you at a longitude of W 97 degrees 13 minutes 12 seconds
and a latitude of N 37 degrees 41 minutes 30 seconds a date August
19 and a time of 6:38 PM standard.
North is actually the direction the camera is facing for the photographs
but what Kaz
is asking you to do is to move yourself to believe that you are
facing South in the right photo and notice that when you do the
sun is now in the east which makes it morning and with the sun
traversing the sky behind you, it would place you on the other
side of the earth at summertime 6 months later thus the text under
the photo with the camera facing south states: a longitude of
E 83 degrees 47 minutes 48 seconds and latitude of S 37 degrees
41 minutes 30 seconds a date of February 18 and a time of 6:08
am standard. In affect what ones consciousness experiences is
discontinuous leap through space and time or "quantum leap".

Another piece concerning itself with proprioception
is Quantum
Leap 2 (1980- photos and text 24" x 30" ) which
is 4 photos that are taken inside 4 different Wendys restaurants.
The camera now is actually facing the different
directions that are stated under the pictures.